Transformation within the boardrooms in print and digital media has not matched that of the newsrooms, the print and digital media transformation task team said on Friday.

At the handover of the team's transformation report to Print and Digital Media South Africa (PDMSA) in Johannesburg, task team chairperson Nkwenke Nkomo said the change within newsrooms had not been matched at a managerial level.

"It [the change] did not reflect what happened in the newsroom," he said.

"As business, you are not living up to what is expected."

The task team, nevertheless, came out against the notion of a transformation charter for print and digital media.

It said full implementation of black economic empowerment (BEE) codes, which the industry had accepted, would provide for sufficient transformation.

To achieve this, the task team set targets in key areas that would need to be met.

To monitor and measure transformation, the task team directed that the annual targets each company set itself for compliance should be made public.

Broad-based BEE code
PDMSA would conduct an annual industry performance audit and also make it publicly available.

While a charter was not necessary, there was a need for a transformation strategy, as the country demanded transformation, said Nkomo.

"[It] doesn't matter how good or great any transformation [strategy] is, if there is no will to make it happen it lives on paper."

The task team was not concerned with media content but rather the key pillars of transformation according to the broad-based BEE code.

The areas print and digital media had failed to sufficiently transform, according to the team team, were in ownership, management control, skills development, and employment equity, with particular reference to women and the disabled.

The industry had done well in areas such as socio-economic development, preferential procurement, and in certain instances enterprise development, it said.